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A few more vaccination notes, now that I'm home (previous tweets were from the post-shot observation area), in case anyone is interested.
As soon as college faculty teaching in-person were officially added, I hit the website, and got today's appointment at the state-run vaccination site on the University at Albany campus. This is a sprawling set of tents in a parking lot, set up by the National Guard.
They checked that I had an appointment ticket as I pulled in, then directed me to park. They were moving people in and out at a pretty good clip, mostly senior citizens (as it should be); I saw one guy in Siena gear who looked to be college-age.
There was basically no wait-- they handed me a clipboard with a form, and as soon as I finished filling it out, they checked my ID and eligibility letter, then sent me to a vaccination station.
There were probably several dozen of these in the tent; mine had three people at it, one the nurse giving the shot, one guy at a computer doing some data entry, and a third woman who filled out the card in the photo, which has my next appointment on the back.
We chatted a bit as they got stuff ready-- they said they've been seeing a lot of Union faculty, and laughed at the @EffinBirds shirt I forgot I had on. The shot itself was basically just like a flu shot. Whole thing took 5-10 minutes.
They gave me a slip of paper with an exit time on it and the date and time for my next appointment (exactly three weeks), then sent me to the observation area to wait 10-ish minutes to see if I had a bad reaction to the shot. My arm aches a little, that's all.
They checked on my way out that I knew when to come back for the second dose, and that was it. The whole process, from pulling into the parking lot to driving back out was under half an hour.
Everything was very smooth, efficient, and cheerful. Kudos to the Department of Health, the National Guard, and the volunteers staffing the place. Really, the most unpleasant part was the hand sanitizer, which has this horrible lingering floral scent.
I was not anomalously quick, either-- I walked in just behind the college kid in Siena gear, and walked out just behind him. I think I got out ahead of one couple who arrived when I did, but then the plywood floors in the tent were rough going for an old lady with a walker.
If you're in New York, and on the eligible list, I definitely recommend these sites if you can get an appointment. I think they could run more people through than they are, but I suspect they're limited by supply right now. Hopefully that'll get fixed soon.
Now I need to wash my hands about five more times-- seriously, their hand sanitizer is the f&*king worst.
